The Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying the prime minister told the secretary-general that he views "with utmost gravity the flagrant violation of Israeli sovereignty," which the tunnels caused.

He added that the tunnels, some of them cross from southern Lebanon inside northern Israel, are a "violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701." The 2006 resolution calls for the cessation of all Hezbollah armed attacks.

He charged that this was "an additional part of Iran's aggression in the region."

During the call, Netanyahu updated Guterres on the details of the "Northern Shield" operation, which the Israeli army launched on Tuesday, and urged the United Nations to strongly condemn "the violation of Israel's sovereignty."

Also on Wednesday, Lebanon's Parliament Speaker, Nabih Berri, said during a meeting with the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the UN peacekeeping force, that Israel provided no evidence for cross-border tunnels.

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed armed group, has not commented on the operation.